Navigating the grid – challenges for new solar farm operators
A synopsis of the presentation provided by guest author, Jonathon Dyson, at the Solar Asset Management conference earlier today in Sydney.
Areas of deeper analysis
Which was that ‘mystery DUID’ that apparently ‘can’t stand the heat’*?
Returning to the challenge posed to readers in April 2019, to guess (or analytically determine!) which of the hundreds of units operating in the NEM showed such a severe limitation in output at high temperatures. It’s not what most people thought it was – far from it!
17-year trend of aggregated coal unit unavailability as from the Generator Report Card
Some excerpts from the Generator Report Card to sample some of the analysis we performed to assess various aspects of the ‘dependability’ of coal-fired power stations in the NEM. In this post we highlight availability (or, more precisely, the level of unavailability) as an aggregated monthly volumetric measure trended over 17 years.
Upcoming Q&A sessions on the Generator Report Card
Here’s some initial details of upcoming informal Q&A sessions in Melbourne (on Tuesday next week!), followed by Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney – where we’d look forward to meeting with those interested in the Generator Report Card.
Five different aspects of assessing the “dependability” of coal-fired power (in the Generator Report Card)
The framework we used to analyse the extent to which coal-fired power is “dependable” in the Generator Report Card, and the extent to which it’s been changing.
Some early comments made about the Generator Report Card
A summary of some comments that we’ve seen in the first few days of the Generator Report Card
Generator Report Card released (on Friday 31st May 2019)
For those who have already pre-ordered their copy, this is how you can access – and for those who have not, but would like a copy, this is how to arrange this as well.
A page for each DUID in (Part 3 of) the Generator Report Card
Worth sharing the level of detail we’re going to, in Part 3 of the Generator Report Card (5 parts in total), where we have assembled millions of data points into a single page summarizing the last 10 years of performance of a particular generation unit. There’s a page for each operational unit (327 in total).
Degradation of performance at high temperatures
We’re taking a much, much deeper dive into generator performance at high temperatures (for all DUIDs operational across the NEM) to see how each one of them, individually, is affected by high temperatures. Guess which one this “mystery DUID” is and we’d look forward to providing some form of prize…
Despite growing diversity of Large Solar farms (NEM-wide), large weather events still have major dampening effects
Sharing a trend of daily capacity factor across all Large Solar plant (post commissioning) in the NEM (preliminary analysis for our Generator Report Card).
Price Setting Concepts – an Explainer
Guest author, Allan O’Neil, contributes to our series of articles explaining how prices are set the the NEM (as part of how dispatch works). In this article, Allan explains some of the details in the AEMO’s “Price Setter” file.
A twenty year review of Marginal Loss Factors
Last week the AEMO released a draft of the Marginal Loss Factors (MLFs) that would apply to both generation and loads connected to the NEM. This page on the AEMO site links to more details. On that page, the AEMO…
The death* of “baseload” and rise of “cycling”
A quick article highlighting how the trend in aggregate number of unit starts, across the whole of the NEM, highlights the scale of one of the core underlying changes (and challenges) facing us in the NEM’s energy transition.
Some thoughts about Demand Response, in parallel with AEMC deliberations
A collection of thoughts that have been bumping around in my head for some time about the latest push by various parties to facilitate a broader range of demand response in the NEM, and whether there are better options
A (preliminary) Intermediate Guide to How Prices are Set in the NEM
In the process of assembling a long-range data set on how much every single generator has contributed to the price of Energy in each Region of the NEM (which we’re doing for our Generator Report Card 2018) we’ve pulled some preliminary analysis together here of how many dispatch intervals since 1st January 2018 see the Price Setter files highlight instances of setting the price ranging:
from “Very Simple” (at Category 1)
… to “Very Complex” (at Category 5)
Factors contributing to an unforeseen price spike in NSW at 16:15 on Thursday 31st January 2019
Taking a brief (well, actually longer than intended) look into the various factors that delivered a price spike above $10,000/MWh on Thursday 31st January in NSW – and thinking through the implications for one particular Demand Response client, and for the broader market.
Very preliminary review of Quantity and Quality of Rebids suggests some interesting details…
As part of the process of compilation of our Generator Report Card 2018, we’re delving into quite some detail into various aspects of generator bidding and re-bidding. Today I thought it might be useful to share some *very early and preliminary* observations that we’re starting to see when trending and categorising rebids.
AGL Investor Presentation reports on Portfolio Availability–we take a look for key Stations
AGL released its investor presentation yesterday – several people flagged the availability stats within the presentation (they knew we were looking at aspects of reliability for our Generator Report Card 2018). Hence I take a brief detour and have a quick look.
NEM spot prices remained stubbornly high in 2018 – what were the drivers?
The surge in NEM spot prices since 2015, and related impacts on contract and retail prices, have been extensively discussed and analysed in many forums, from ACCC inquiries to Twitter. The underlying reasons for the rise are well understood and…
Extensive review of Units Off-Target, as part of Generator Report Card 2018
Some brief analysis, on the sidelines of our data gathering for the Generator Report Card 2018, looking at the changing incidence of Aggregate Absolute Off-Target for DUIDs across the NEM.